Young Women

6 Where has your love gone,

most beautiful of women?

Which way has heH turned?

We will seek him with you.

Woman

2 My love has gone down to his garden,u

to beds of spice,v

to feed in the gardensw

and gather lilies.x

3 I am my love’s and my love is mine;y

he feeds among the lilies.

Man

4 You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,

lovely as Jerusalem,

awe-inspiring as an army with banners.z

5 Turn your eyes away from me,

for they captivate me.aa

Your hair is like a flock of goats

streaming down from Gilead.ab

6 Your teeth are like a flock of ewes

coming up from washing,

each one having a twin,

and not one missing.I,ac

7 Behind your veil,ad

your browJ is like a slice of pomegranate.

8 There are sixty queens

and eighty concubinesae

and young women* without number.

9 But my dove,a my virtuous one, is unique;b

she is the favorite of her mother,

perfect to the one who gave her birth.

Women see her and declare her fortunate;c

queens and concubines also, and they sing her praises:

10 Who is thisd who shines like the dawn,

as beautiful as the moon,

bright as the sun,

awe-inspiring as an army with banners?e

Woman

11 I came down to the walnut grove

to see the blossoms of the valley,

to see if the vines were buddingf

and the pomegranates blooming.

12 I didn’t know what was happening to me.

I felt like I was

in a chariot with a nobleman.A

Young Women

13 Come back, come back, Shulammite!B

Come back, come back, that we may look at you!

Man

How you gaze at the Shulammite,

as you look at the danceg of the two camps!C,h

7 How beautiful are your sandaled feet, princess!D,i

The curves of your thighs are like jewelry,

the handiwork of a master.

2 Your navel is a rounded bowl;

it never lacks mixed wine.

Your belly is a mound of wheat

surrounded by lilies.

3 Your breasts are like two fawns,

twins of a gazelle.j

4 Your neck is like a tower of ivory,k

your eyes like pools in Heshbon

by Bath-rabbim’s gate.

Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon

looking toward Damascus.

5 Your head crowns youE like Mount Carmel,

the hair of your head like purple cloth—

a king could be held captivel in your tresses.

6 How beautiful you are and how pleasant,m

my love, with such delights!

7 Your stature is like a palm tree;

your breasts are clusters of fruit.

8 I said, “I will climb the palm tree

and take hold of its fruit.”n

May your breasts be like clusters of grapes,

and the fragrance of your breath like apricots.o

9 Your mouthF is like fine winep—

Woman

flowing smoothly for my love,

gliding past my lips and teeth!G

10 I am my love’s,

and his desireq is for me.r

11 Come, my love,

let’s go to the field;

let’s spend the night among the henna blossoms.A

12 Let’s go early to the vineyards;

let’s see if the vine has budded,

if the blossom has opened,

if the pomegranates are in bloom.s

There I will give you my caresses.

13 The mandrakest give off a fragrance,

and at our doors is every delicacy,

both new and old.

I have treasured them up for you, my love.

8 If only I could treat you like my brother,B

one who nursed at my mother’s breasts,

I would find you in public and kiss you,

and no one would scorn me.

2 I would lead you, I would take you,

to the house of my motheru who taught me.C

I would give you spiced wine to drink

from the juice of my pomegranate.

3 May his left hand be under my head,

and his right arm embrace me.v

4 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you,

do not stir up or awaken love

until the appropriate time.a

Young Women

5 Who is thisb coming up from the wilderness,

leaning on the one she loves?

Woman

I awakened you under the apricot tree.c

There your mother conceived you;

there she conceived and gave you birth.

6 Set me as a seal on your heart,

as a seal on your arm.d

For love is as strong as death;e

jealousy is as unrelenting as Sheol.

Love’s flames are fiery flamesf—

an almighty flame!D

7 A huge torrent cannot extinguish love;

rivers cannot sweep it away.

If a man were to give all his wealthE for love,g

it would be utterly scorned.

Brothers

8 Our sister is young;

she has no breasts.h

What will we do for our sister

on the day she is spoken for?

9 If she is a wall,

we will build a silver barricade on her.

If she is a door,

we will enclose her with cedar planks.i

Woman

10 I amF a wall

and my breasts like towers.

So to him I have become

like one who findsG peace.H

11 Solomon owned a vineyard in Baal-hamon.j

He leased the vineyard to tenants.k

Each was to bring for his fruit

one thousand pieces of silver.l

12 I have my own vineyard.* m

The one thousand are for you, Solomon,

but two hundred for those who take care of its fruits.

Man

13 YouB who dwell in the gardens,

companionsn are listening for your voice;

let me hear you!o

Woman

14 Run away with me,C my love,

and be like a gazelle

or a young stag

on the mountains of spices.p

ISAIAH

1 The visiona concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiahb son of Amoz saw during the reigns A of Kings Uzziah,c Jotham,d Ahaz,e and Hezekiahf of Judah.g

JUDAH ON TRIAL

2 Listen, heavens, and pay attention, earth,h

for the Lord has spoken:

“I have raised children* and brought them up,

but they have rebelled against me.i

3 The ox knows its owner,

and the donkey its master’s feeding trough,

but Israel does not know;

my people do not understand.”j

4 Oh sinful nation,

people weighed down with iniquity,k

brood of evildoers,l

depraved children!

They have abandonedm the Lord;

they have despisedn the Holy One of Israel;o

they have turned their backs on him.

5 Why do you want more beatings?

Why do you keep on rebelling?

The whole head is hurt,

and the whole heart is sick.

6 From the sole of the foot even to the head,p

no spot is uninjuredq—

wounds, welts, and festering sores

not cleansed, bandaged,

or soothed with oil.

7 Your land is desolate,

your cities burned down;r

foreigners devour your fields

right in front of you—

a desolation, like a place demolished by foreigners.

8 Daughter Zions is abandoned

like a shelter in a vineyard,

like a shack in a cucumber field,

like a besieged city.

9 If the Lord of Armiest

had not left us a few survivors,u

we would be like Sodom,

we would resemble Gomorrah.v

10 Hear the word of the Lord,w

you rulers of Sodom!

Listen to the instruction of our God,

you people of Gomorrah!x

11 “What are all your sacrifices to me?”

asks the Lord.

“I have had enough of burnt offerings and rams

and the fat of well-fed cattle;

I have no desire for the blood of bulls,

lambs, or male goats.y

12 When you come to appear before me,

who requires this from you—

this trampling of my courts?

13 Stop bringing useless offerings.z

Your incense is detestable to me.

New Moons and Sabbaths,aa

and the calling of solemn assembliesab—

I cannot stand iniquityac with a festival.

14 I hate your New Moons and prescribed festivals.

They have become a burden to me;

I am tired of putting up with them.

15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,ad

I will refuse to look at you;

even if you offer countless prayers,

I will not listen.ae

Your hands are covered with blood.af

PURIFICATION OF JERUSALEM

16 “Wash yourselves. Cleanse yourselves.ag

Remove your evil deeds from my sight.

Stop doing evil.ah

17 Learn to do what is good.

Pursue justice.ai

Correct the oppressor.A

Defend the rights of the fatherless.

Plead the widow’s cause.

18 “Come, let’s settle this,”a

says the Lord.

“Though your sins are scarlet,

they will be as white as snow;b

though they are crimson red,

they will be like wool.

19 If you are willing and obedient,

you will eat the good things of the land.c

20 But if you refuse and rebel,

you will be devoured by the sword.”d

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.e

21 The faithful town—

what an adulteressB she has become!

She was once full of justice.

Righteousness once dwelt in her,

but now, murderers!

22 Your silver has become dross to be discarded,

your beerC is diluted with water.

23 Your rulers are rebels,

friends of thieves.f

They all love graft

and chase after bribes.g

They do not defend the rights of the fatherless,

and the widow’s case never comes before them.h

24 Therefore the Lord God of Armies,

the Mighty One of Israel, declares:

“Ah, I will get even with my foes;

I will take revenge against my enemies.i

25 I will turn my hand against youj

and will burn away your dross completely;D

I will remove all your impurities.k

26 I will restore your judgesl to what they were at first,

and your advisers to what they were at the start.

Afterward you will be called the Righteous City,m

a Faithful Town.”

27 Zion will be redeemed by justice,

those who repent, by righteousness.n

28 At the same time both rebels and sinners will be broken,

and those who abandon the Lord will perish.

29 Indeed, theyA will be ashamed of the sacred trees

you desired,o

and you will be embarrassed because of the garden shrines

you have chosen.p

30 For you will become like an oak

whose leaves are withered,

and like a garden without water.q

31 The strong one will become tinder,

and his work a spark;

both will burn together,r

with no one to extinguish the flames.s